Ohio University to play Ohio State in 2008

[Taosman]

Got to give it to any coach that can make Ohio U. or Kent a winner!

 

[cincibuck]

And it's not OU, it's Ohio .Oklahoma has a problem with Ohio using OU.

I'll call it Ohio when I start hearing the alums and students calling it that. The ones I'm in contact with, a nephew, a niece, a daughter, a teaching buddy, lots of kids I taught and two neighbors all use OU.

 

[mooktarr]

Good news.

 

[Bleed S & G]

 

[Piney]

I'll call it Ohio when I start hearing the alums and students calling it that. The ones I'm in contact with, a nephew, a niece, a daughter, a teaching buddy, lots of kids I taught and two neighbors all use OU.

I should have added a sarcasm font. Cuz as an Ohio alum I use OU all the time. But it is funny on every one of their media packets and gameday notes there is a paragraph specifically telling media to use Ohio and not OU. Here is the paragraph they use...

Ohio, Please
When referring to the Bobcats, please use Ohio. Ohio University is acceptable when using other institutions full names. Please do not use Ohio U. or OU. Thank you.​

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Quick question regarding the name(s) of the two universities.

Now, i've heard from a few random sources/people...nothing concrete though...that their was some dispute between the two schools regarding the names of the universities. Something along the lines of OU claiming it was the official STATE university of Ohio. Has Ohio State always gone by THE Ohio State University or was it later changed to add "the"

sorry if this is in the wrong place, but its the only thread i've found at this time regarding the two schools.

Ohio State's name for the first few years of its existence was Ohio A&M, which is why you'll find it contantly being referred to as the Ohio A&M Aggies on the Miami of Ohio and OU boards. Apparently, it's believed that this name somehow negates the fact that both of those schools were passed over by the political and businsess leadership of the 1860's to be both the state's land-grant and flagship university, despite each school vigorously lobbying for the role. In fact, taking the unusual and more difficult step of creating an entirely new university to fulfill these roles rather than designating an existing public college to do so, made Ohio unique among Great Lakes states. That says something about how the two older institutions were viewed by the powers of the day. As for the "The" in the name it's been part of the official name of the university since 1878. President Jennings began to emphasize its use in the early 1980s as a means of subtly (or not so subtly depending on one's viewpoint) reminding the politicians and citizens of the state that Ohio State was created and mandated from its earliest years to fulfill a flagship role in the state's system of higher education.

While Miami of Ohio and OU are indeed older than Ohio State by around 60 years and were founded by a state charter, Ohio State was actually the first public university in the state which the state funded on a permanent annual basis, so founding dates aside, it can be argued that Ohio State was Ohio's first true "state university" as we would understand the term today. The state also legally declared Ohio State's flagship status in 1906 with the Eagleson Bill which barred Miami of Ohio and OU (later also BG and Kent) from offering doctoral education or conducting basic research, with those roles reserved for Ohio State. Let's see; the older brother(s) being deemed unfit for the leadership role and subsequently passed over and forced to watch the younger brother put in charge. There's an analogy with a fictional character. I just can't think of who.

So the next time someone from Miami of Ohio or OU talks about their school being older than Ohio State, remind them that not only does it mean nothing today but that history says that, despite a sixty year head start, neither university had managed to provide the citizens of Ohio with a proper state university, forcing the state to create one from scratch rather than take the chance that one of the existing schools would screw up the job.

 

[Jt4prez]

Yeah, I'm a student at Ohio and everytime I tell somebody where I go I use OU.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get some tickets for the OSU/OU game. The game should be fun to watch. OU sucks right now and next year we lose Kalvin McRae our best rb, so I'm thinking it will be a blowout.

 

[cincibuck]

Yeah, I'm a student at Ohio and everytime I tell somebody where I go I use OU.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get some tickets for the OSU/OU game. The game should be fun to watch. OU sucks right now and next year we lose Kalvin McRae our best rb, so I'm thinking it will be a blowout.

Yeah, but you're in the 'shoe and both bands are great and the Hineygate is just a few minutes away. You could do worse... much worse.

 

[Jt4prez]

Yeah, but you're in the 'shoe and both bands are great and the Hineygate is just a few minutes away. You could do worse... much worse.

Good point. I could do much worse.
The bands are both great. The Best Damn Band in the Land and The Most Exciting Band in the Land. It doesnt get any better.

 

[BrutusBobcat]

I'm not sure how I missed this. I was just looking at the 2008 schedule today and saw the game. Obviously, I think that Solich has done a good job with the program at OU, which really suffered after Grobe left. Who am I kidding? It suffered before Grobe arrived as well. Anyway, Frank hasn't been asleep at the wheel. Last season was a huge step forward, even though 2007 has been disappointing. It's kind of funny to be disappointed with a Bobcat team hovering around .500.

Under Solich, the Bobcats have played in big OOC matchups and really haven't come close to putting a scare into anyone. This isn't Fresno State. The biggest win was against a unranked Pitt team in 2005, in Athens, on an overtime pick-6. Most people probably remember that one. Most people probably don't remember that OU got hammered the week before by Northwestern, and hammered the week after by #4 Virginia Tech (45-0).

In 2006, trips to Rutgers and Missouri yielded 24-7 and 31-6 losses respectively, and a bowl game with Southern Miss, which was essentially a road game, also resulted in a 28-7 loss. This season's best OOC win was against La-Laf, followed by losses at VT and a 1-point home loss to Wyoming.

Really, the story on the Bobcats has been that they're a well-coached team that's lacking the handful of star players that a lower mid-major needs in order to step up to beat a BCS team, or even the better mid-majors. RB Kalvin McRae is graduating, and with him goes the rushing offense (he has 1300+ yards this season). OU's defense has only held one team (Temple) to under double digits all year. It is very not good.

With the team that OSU is returning, Tressel will be calling the dogs off by halftime. Honestly, I will be impressed if OU scores, even in garbage time. This is going to be the worst loss of the Solich era (currently the 45-0 VT loss).

 

[Bobcat94]

I should have added a sarcasm font. Cuz as an Ohio alum I use OU all the time. But it is funny on every one of their media packets and gameday notes there is a paragraph specifically telling media to use Ohio and not OU. Here is the paragraph they use...

This second generation Bobcat knew Ohio University as 'OU' my entire life. I don't plan on referring to it as anything else (unless something tragic happened to me, say, I was forced to move to Oklahoma ).

 

[bucksfan415]

I wish Ohio was a better team and we play them more because then maybe it could turn into a rivalry like the MSU and Michigan one.

 

[IronBuckI]

I wish Ohio was a better team and we play them more because then maybe it could turn into a rivalry like the MSU and Michigan one.

UC is probably the only Ohio school that will ever come close to offering us any kind of meaningful in-state rivalry. With them being in the Big East they might be able to provide us with a decent rivalry. If they can keep a coach from moving on, and consistently get quality 3* atheletes from Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.

 

[BrutusBobcat]

UC is probably the only Ohio school that will ever come close to offering us any kind of meaningful in-state rivalry. With them being in the Big East they might be able to provide us with a decent rivalry. If they can keep a coach from moving on, and consistently get quality 3* atheletes from Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.

Not to wander too far off topic, but I agree. By moving to the Big East, and with the way the BCS is structured, UC is now the first and only other university in the state that can be called a "major" football program. With the right staff (as they now have) they essentially can recruit on the same playing field as other regional majors like Kentucky, Indiana, Louisville, WVU and Pitt.

None of the MAC schools are going to be able to draw anywhere near that depth of quality. To top that off, UC has a respectable athletics budget which far exceeds anything available at the MAC schools. OU has some nice facilities, and they've put into it what they can, but the resources are nothing like what UC has (which, of course, is nothing like what Ohio State has).

Rivalry, though, implies some long-term parity or near-parity, which UC isn't going to achieve. The best you can say for them is that at some point in the future they could have a team which is good enough to break Ohio State's winning streak against in-state opponents. They've come closer than anyone else, so I think that's a fair statement.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

I wish Ohio was a better team and we play them more because then maybe it could turn into a rivalry like the MSU and Michigan one.

Why would you want to build any in-state school up to being a serious competitor or ours for media attention and recruiting?

We have our rivals. They just don't happen to be in the state.